School just let out for what’s shaping up to be a hot summer, but one Northern Tier school district is deep into a project that will change the way its schools are heated come winter.
Last week the Sullivan County School District officially broke ground on a $1.5 million biomass plant that should be up and running by the end of the year. Of that cost, about $1.1 million was covered by state and federal grants.
The plant will consist of a biomass boiler and hot water storage tank. Since the district is closing one elementary school and its remaining two schools are next to each other, the biomass plant will be able to heat all district facilities. Sullivan County currently uses fuel oil for heating and that system will stay in place as a backup, district business manager Paul Schaefer says. In its first year alone, the biomass system is expected to save between $70,000 and $80,000 in heating costs a big difference, considering that 2010 figures showed an average annual heating-oil bill of about $179,000.
Not surprisingly, Schaefer says the potential savings were the main reason Sullivan County considered alternative fuel. A few neighboring districts were also using biomass so it looked like a good option. He also points out that with the abundant trees and lumberyards in the area, securing wood chips for the biomass boiler won’t be a problem. The potential also exists to build a solar-energy system on the site, Shaefer says.
Source: Paul Schaefer, Sullivan County School District
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
